Hubspot nets $35 million in new cash to fuel hiring and M&A

Hubspot, a Cambridge, Mass. specialist in in-bound marketing technology, snagged $35 million in new venture money which brings its total funding to $100 million.

The company has big plans for that cash including acquisitions and more hiring, CEO and co-founder Brian Halligan told me last week. “We just opened our office in Ireland and we have 70 openings now for software developers, sales and marketing people. Next year, we’ll look at Asia.”

The company , which now has 400 employees, says its software suite gives marketers the tools they need to “pull in” customers via blogs, Twitter feeds, Facebook and such platforms rather than the old model of broadcast marketing, which often falls on deaf ears. “Marketers need content management, social networking, automation tools; we do all of that,” said Halligan, who co-founded the company with Dharmesh Shah.

Hubspot, to some extent, competes with Salesforce.com, which is also a partner and — interestingly — an investor. Salesforce.com has a habit of investing in companies (e.g. Box) and then launching competitive products — (e.g. Chatterbox). Salesforce started out as a CRM and sales force automation service but has been steadily adding more capabilities and functions. It bought Radian6 and Buddy Media to bolster its own social media savvy.

Halligan characterized this new funding as a mezzanine, pre-IPO round. It includes contributions from a new, unnamed backer as well as Altimeter Capital, Cross Creek Capital and previous investors. That roster is a long list including General Catalyst, Matrix Partners, Scale Venture Partners, Sequoia Capital, Google Ventures, Charles River Ventures and the aforementioned Salesforce.com.